Win Her Heart
by Daisy Bokoblin
Summary: This was it, today was the day! The day Shivers the wandering butler would win over Melody's heart! But how? Passion! Yes! That was it! He would show her he burned for her! His unbridled passion would scorch her soul! Unless, of course, fate decided to play its cards...


Resonating across the halls, reverberating between hollow walls, pretty little notes floated. One followed the other quickly, each weaving with the next to create an intricate web of sound. A tapestry of all teeny notes, winding around one another to create the perfect harmony. She tickled her ivories, stretching the fingers that danced nimbly across smooth keys that whapped down with a gentle thud, causing note upon note to dance away from the piano and away from her heart. The little sharps and flats danced together, spinning each other round like the Whirlindas in their prime.

Behind closed doors, however, was one who usually couldn't bear the lilting tune. It would reach into the cold expanse of his heart, and shatter inside, fragments piercing his soul. For, though he should only be a soul, he had evidence he had a heart as well. That evidence was sitting behind an elegant piano, slim fingers whisking around each other to create the heart wrenching tune. The music usually brought heavy tears to his eyes, although it was beautiful. It reminded him of what he could never have, seeing as how she'd already turned him away.

But today, the ghost decided he'd had enough. Shivers the butler floated swiftly off his splintery stool, one hand grasping his candelabra, the other clenched in determination. Today was going to be the day he'd win over Melody's heart. He had to do it soon too; the strange little man who'd shown up not hours before might ruin all for the butler. How? He didn't know; he hadn't paid much attention to the visitor as his heart was set on his beloved Melody.

A smile of hope spread across the ghost's face as he floated straight through his door, the grin unusual for the butler, seeing as how he wasn't exactly known to be cheery. But he couldn't help the sweet smile, for what could he do to remove it? Today was the day he'd win over his love, no matter what she'd said about not returning his feelings.

The halls, for some reason, were abnormally quiet (save for Melody's melody), and Shivers stopped for a moment and listened intently. No shrill music from the Whirlindas in the Ballroom. No strange grunting noises from Mr. Luggs in the Dining Room. All that could be heard was the beautiful piece echoing from his love's room. The butler found himself pulled towards the song, which usually held only pain, yet now was full of hope and romance. Just as he was going to float through her shut door, he stopped. What was he going to say to that beauty on the other side to make her change her thoughts about him?

Shivers pondered his dilemma, and began floating back and forth in some semblance of pacing.

_What should I do to win her heart? _He puzzled silently, not noticing how Melody's melody abruptly stopped before being replaced by something much more upbeat and airy, something one could relate to the sky. _How to win over my beautiful pianist?_

He was, in fact, so lost within himself he didn't hear the stop of the sky tune as well, a much more haunting tune taking its place. So deep within his thoughts, that when the music stopped completely and was replaced by the beautiful pianist's screams, he didn't even notice.

_Ah, the beautiful Melody won't give me the time of day. How to win her over? _When the answer struck him, he was ecstatic. _Passion! Yes! That's it! I will show her I burn for her! My unbridled passion will scorch her soul!_

Giddy at his revelation, Shivers turned back to Melody's door and floated over, determined to earn her love.

Unfortunately for the butler, fate had other plans. That is, if fate wore overalls.

Heat burst beside Shivers' head, and he succumbed to panic. Screaming wildly, the ghost whipped back around to the one place he could call home, his safe haven. Shrieking the entire way, the butler floated back to his little room, the place where all butlers should be. Out of sight until needed.

As he lowered himself onto his tiny stool, a breath of relief escaped him. The heat was gone, even if he had gone into a blind panic all the way back to his room. Taking a breath, a bright light from seemingly nowhere shone onto the butler's shivering form, and he froze in shock.

When the air started pulling him, however, he snapped back to reality and began screeching for dear life. Thus began a maddening tug of war between ghost and something unknown. Only once during his terrified struggle did he allow himself a glance behind his back, to where he was being pulled. Standing there, holding a strange contraption was the visitor. His face was nervous, perhaps just as nervous as Shivers' was, and for a split second, the ghost felt a pang of pity for the man in green. Then he felt he was losing his fight, that he was being pulled into the man's prison, and any pity felt vanished.

All Shivers the butler felt before he blacked out and fell into the swirling vortex was sheer terror.

* * *

"Nicely done, Luigi!" E. Gadd smiled proudly, and jumped up and down a bit whilst clapping. The plumber was bashful at the praise, but happy all the same. He'd caught the ghosts all on his own, and was that much closer to finding his brother.

Luigi offered up the Poltergust 3000's nozzle to the hole in the machine, and after he jerked it back out, he took the contraption off of his back and placed it at his feet. Though it felt nice to get the heavy object off his back, it also felt… Strange. The plumber almost felt naked without it, unprotected. Nonetheless, he watched the strange process the Ghost Portrificationizer went through to turn the rogue ghosts back into paintings. Each step felt almost nonsensical to the plumber, although he wouldn't say that aloud. He had no experience in these sorts of things; they were best left to the professionals like E. Gadd.

Luigi's least favorite part of the process, however, had to be seeing the finished product. Every single ghost he faced, who tried to kill him or scare his pants off (lucky thing he wore overalls instead), would pop out, newly displayed as a painting. At least, every single _powerful _ghost he faced came out. None of those ghosts who just roamed the halls randomly getting their own portrait.

As the process came to a close, Luigi shrugged the Poltergust back into it's normal position on his back, and followed E. Gadd to watch him hang the portraits, as per E. Gadd's request. The inventor was so proud of the plumber he had him watch the momentous occasion of portrait hanging (though Luigi wasn't fond of it; more time spent looking at the ghosts).

All Luigi felt as each one was hung was a mix of fear and accomplishment, though fear beat the second feeling. Until, strangely enough, he found himself lingering behind E. Gadd to gaze at one particular painting.

Depicted in realistic colors from a frontal view was the ghost Luigi actually found roaming the halls outside of the pianist Melody's room. The plumber clearly remembered both ghosts. Melody played the piano wonderfully, but seemed to be a bit of a spoiled brat.

The butler who had been roaming the halls (was his name Quivers? No, Shivers, that was it) had quite the strange things going through his heart when Luigi listened in. He actually had a crush on the beautiful pianist Melody. Needless to say, this crept the plumber out more than a little bit. Shivers had been more than 70 years old, Melody only a teenager. Then again, perhaps age didn't matter when you were a ghost.

No matter what his opinion was, Luigi couldn't help but feel badly when he gazed on the butler's portrait. His glowing eyes seemed to hold a tale, one of lost love.

Finally, it became too much for Luigi to look on the portrait, so he turned and exited the gallery, leaving Shivers the wandering butler hanging upon the wall.

* * *

**AN- First venture into the Luigi's Mansion territory! Whoop whoop! :D**

**This game is fantastic, and I've wanted to write something about it for the longest time. So, I tried writing a Valentines Day oneshot starring Melody and Shivers. While writing it, however, it took a turn from romantic to angsty. So yah, this is what happened. I hope you enjoyed, and since this isn't very Valentines Day-ish, I'll just say HAPPY VALENTINES DAY ALL YOU PEEPS OUT THERE (that was weird XD)**

**Also, this is a bit of an AU, seeing as how in the game, you get the key to the Conservatory (Melody's room) from capturing Shivers, and in this, Luigi got her before him.**


End file.
